Groups protest inauguration of Shari’ah arbitration panel in Ekiti

More controversies have continued to trail the inauguration of the Independent Shari’ah Arbitration Panel in Ado, the Ekiti State capital, last week.

This followed a protest by the Yoruba Regional Alliance (YRA) worldwide in collaboration with all Yoruba self-determination organizations.

Recall that the State government had earlier distanced itself from the Shari’ah panel.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Dayo Apata (SAN), had said that the Independent Shari’ah Arbitration Panel is not in the judicial structure of the State, adding that “Arbitration and/or Mediation issues are Quasi-Judicial matters which are regulated by law” in the state.

However, the protesters gathered at the Adebayo area of Ado-Ekiti where they chanted songs and carried placards with various inscriptions such as “No to Sharia in Yorubaland,” “Sharia will cause war,” “Sharia is constitutional blunder,” and “We reject Sharia,” just to mention a few.

However, they were prevented from moving around the streets by the police in order to avoid possible crisis and bloodshed.

Addressing journalists, the leader of the Yoruba Regional Alliance Worldwide, Opeoluwa Akinola, alleged that the struggle to introduce Sharia into Yorubaland is an attempt to cause chaos and disharmony, saying the practice does not represent their values.

Akinola noted that the Yoruba people, irrespective of their religions, have co-existed peacefully for generations without the Sharia penal code, wondering what the introduction of Sharia law is going to achieve that the existing penal codes and legal systems operative in Yorubaland cannot.

He said, “We totally reject and condemn the proposed inauguration while calling on the Ekiti State government and relevant authorities to forestall the impending catastrophe by immediately putting a stop to any further preparations by the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria to inaugurate the Sharia panel in Ekiti State and in any other part of Yorubaland.”

“What positive advantage has Sharia contributed to the economy and well-being of the indigenous people of the 12 northern states where it’s been practised? The affected states are still overwhelmed with poverty, out-of-school children, insecurity, and child molestation.

“For decades, Muslims from the north of Nigeria have been attempting to export their brand of political Islam, which allegedly espouses violence, intolerance, Jihad, and the anachronistic Sharia Islamic code into Yorubaland.

“We call on all Yoruba Muslim organizations, Christian Associations, Isese and other Ibile traditional worshipers, and Ifa adherents to come out in virulent condemnation of the move as they want to cause a schism in the age-old harmonious relationships between all our people in Yorubaland.”

In an interview, the chairman of the Yoruba Nation Religious Council (YONAREC), Comrade Oluwafemi Edafemi, said the group is opposed to the introduction of the Islamic legal system known as Sharia into Yorubaland.

He said the proposal, allegedly championed by external religious fanatics from the North, with the collaboration of a few Yoruba Muslims, is not representative of the cultural heritage of the Yoruba people.

He hereby calls on all Yoruba people, both within and outside the nation, to resist the imposition and stand firm in protecting the unity, culture, and freedom of the Yoruba Nation.

Others who spoke appealed to the government to prevail on the Muslim community to rescind their decision on the introduction of Sharia in Yorubaland.